


Would You Want to Hang Out Together?

by HerBrokenArm



Category: Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Genre: Cute?, F/M, Female Reader, Major Character Undeath, No Sex, No Smut, Reader-Insert, also lmao have no idea how to indent stuff on here, im new to this so if i tag stuff wrong sorry lol, it's re:zero you should know there's death and how it works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:01:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26446030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerBrokenArm/pseuds/HerBrokenArm
Summary: Natsuki Subaru has been working at the mansion for around a month, but you still don't know much about him. So why did he insist you go with him on a trip to the village?
Relationships: Natsuki Subaru/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	1. When Subaru Saved You

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a Subaru/Reader fic where you don't have or know about Return by Death. I thought it would be interesting to show how he would appear to a person who doesn't know anything about the time loops. In this fic you're not isekaied, you're just a citizen of Lugnica.

The sunbeams filtering through the trees dapple at your feet. A choir of birds sings in the forest. It's a perfect day to take a nice walk with another person. The other person on this walk with you is your coworker, Natsuki Subaru. The two of you were tasked with restocking food for the mansion, which normally would be something for Subaru and one of the maids to do. For some reason, he decided to go with you and wouldn't accept no for an answer. 

You two don't know each other that well, so his insistence surprised you. You're not upset though, it's hard to admit, but you've been curious to know more about him. 

"So," Subaru starts. "you go to the village a lot, huh?" 

"Yeah. It's my job to make sure it's in good condition and that Roswaal doesn't need to step in. It's like my second home." you respond.

"So you know all the villagers there?"

"Of course! You know, ever since the mabeast attack, all they seem to talk about is you."

"Well, can you blame them? It's such a quiet place that it must have been the most eventful thing to happen in a long time."

"In all honesty, I can't believe you're alive."

"Me too, for now at least."

You pause. You open your mouth to say something- but stop. 

"Was that too morbid?" he said.

"Not really, I guess I just wasn't expecting that from you."

"What, do you think I can't be poetic and deep?" He tries to pose suavely with a wink and a hand on his chin. You laugh.

"Hahaha, I guess I just can't see you and poetic in the same sentence!"

"So cold, you wound my heart, you know, fair maiden." He overdramatically drapes his hand over his forehead. You laugh harder.

Halfway through your walk, Subaru pauses. His hands start to shake, and you can see beads of sweat form on his skin. With every snap of a branch, he turns his head. 

_"Oh,"_ you think. _"This must be where he fought the mabeasts."_ You reach out to grab his hand. He jumps at your touch but doesn't let go. The grip is firm, but his hands themselves are soft. And a little bit… sweaty?

"Is everything alright?" you ask. Subaru looks over his shoulder. You can see his eyes scanning the surrounding forest. With a pause, he relaxes. 

"Yeah, I'm just… nevermind."

You give his hand a supporting squeeze. He begins to blush.

"You-you know, holding hands like this, people might think we're a couple." 

You get flustered. "I didn't think about that until you pointed it out!" 

Suddenly, you feel a sharp pain against your cheek. 

"GAAAAH!" Touching where the pain was, your fingers reveal blood. "What the…" Lodged in the ground across from your wound is a throwing knife.

"Damn-!" Subaru grunts. He pulls you off the path, away from the danger.

He's focused on the path ahead of you but still takes the time to look back and make sure you're alright. His face is stern and serious, any sense of goofiness from before has left. 

Twigs snap behind you. A male demihuman wearing a face mask appears next to you, armed with knives. He tries to throw another knife at you while running, but Subaru pulls you away in the nick of time. 

"I'm going to try and lose them, okay? Don't let go of my hand!" Subaru says.

"Oh kay?" you repeat.

"SHAMAC!" he shouted, an explosion of black smoke erupting from every one of his pores.

In the cloud's chaos, the two of you slide down a grassy hill, hopping over a rotted tree. You've successfully lost the masked man. Subaru squeezes your hand. His eyes are focused, but his hands are shaking.

"What's going on?"

"Well, I'd say someone wants to kill you." he responded, surprisingly not all that shocked.

"What? Why?" 

"Honestly, I have no idea." he says immediately. "All I know is we need to find a way to get rid of that guy." 

From the corner of your eye, you see a soft turquoise glow. It's one of the barrier crystals to protect from mabeasts. 

"I have an idea." You stand up. Subaru lets go of your hand. "If we grab one of those crystals, we'll be safe from mabeasts. Then all we have to do is lead the assassin into the barrier."

"Who's going to hold it? I can lure the mabeasts out, but the assassin could ambush you if you're alone."

"We can hold it together."

The two of you stand side by side, holding the crystal in both of your hands. 

Nothing's happening.

"The assassin's a demihuman… I wonder…" Subaru mummers. He turns to you with a deadly serious look in his eyes. "I can Re-" He jolts forward. "GAAAH" he gasps in pain and clutches his chest. Birds flee from the trees, and a sense of unease hangs in the air.

"SUBARU!" you scream. 

"I'm okay." he chokes out from shaky breaths. You hear the thundering of animals coming this way. 

You're jerked forward by Subaru another time. Where you previously stood are three knives jammed into the dirt.

"Well," you say. "Whatever you did worked!"

The assassin lands in front of you, ready to strike when the look of determination fades from his eyes. You follow his gaze to see a stampede of doglike mabeasts charging in his direction.

"You- that clown bastard will pay for claiming this area as his own!" the assassin shouted, before running in the other direction.

"Roswaal?" you whisper.

The assassin didn't get away in time. 

You and Subaru exit the barrier and return the crystal. Your heart is still hammering in your chest. You inhale… and exhale…

"It's over." You sigh with relief. Turning to Subaru, you ask, "Are you alrig-" 

Suddenly, he hugs you. He grips you like you could turn to sand if he let go. "Woah!" you say. "It's over now… you're alright." You hug him back. You can hear his unsteady breathing like he's choking back a sob. "I know… did the mabeasts remind you of when you were attacked?" you gently pet his hair.

"Hah...no… no… it's just…" his voice cracks. "I'm so glad you didn't get hurt." You can feel your face get red. _"He was really that worried about me?"_

"This might be a bad time." he chuckled through tears. "But… would you want to hang out together?"

You start to sputter. "Hu-huh?"


	2. When You Saved Subaru

Earlier that day, in a separate timeline.

Subaru was peeling potatoes in the kitchen. His technique had vastly improved since his first try, but he was the only one who knew that. To everyone else, he just changed from being slightly competent to just competent over the course of the month. Now his peeling was only a little bit worse than Ram's. He peeled twice the amount she did, so he figured that made them equal anyway. 

"Later today, Rem and I need to go to the village to restock again," Ram said.

"Huh, you're not asking me to go with?" Subaru responded.

"Are you so desperate for attention that you can't go a couple of hours without us?" she deadpanned.

"Hey, I'm just curious! This is the first time I'll be unsupervised in the mansion." 

"No need to remind us. We'll be lucky if it's even still standing when we get back."

"Rem, back me up on this!" he pleads.

"Subaru-kun, no need to worry. Y/n will be in the mansion, too." she cheerfully added.

"Oh yeah, I forgot she's not in this village this week- wait, that's not why I was upset!" he whined. 

Despite their back and forth, it warmed his heart that the sisters trusted him enough to leave him alone in the mansion. Well, not completely alone, since y/n would be there too. _"Huh,"_ he thought. _"Maybe this would be a great time to get to know her better."_

Rem and Ram had already left for the village, but Subaru was just finishing up washing the dishes. Afterward, he needed to sweep and mop the floors, then do some garden maintenance.

"Man…" he muttered to himself. "It's going to be dark when I finally hang out with Y/n. Maybe I'll give myself a little break."

As he passed through the halls, he could have sworn he saw a figure through the window, but it was already gone when he turned his head.

He knocked on the door to Y/n's room. There was a brief pause, then she opened the door. 

"Huh, Subaru? What are you doing here?"

"I have a bit of a break right now, so I figured I could help you out!"

"Well, I'm not doing much at the moment, but you can still come in!"

Her room was fairly clean, with basic signs of being lived in, like rustled sheets and scattered books. Subaru couldn't help feeling a bit flustered at being in a woman's room. The maid's rooms were so clean that you wouldn't even tell people slept there. Y/n's room, in comparison, felt a lot more… intimate to be in.

"Feel free to take a seat on the bed." Y/n smiled.

The two of them made a bit of small talk, full of laughter and jokes.

"I heard that you're trying to learn the language here."

"Wow, does everyone know that I can't read…" he chuckled.

"I could help you out a bit if you'd like," she said warmly. "I'm not busy right now." She walked to her bookshelf, pondering what title to bring out. She pulled out a thin book with a simple cover and handed it to Subaru. He hesitantly opened it up to find pages full of stylized illustrations. He smiled nostalgically, remembering the manga collection he had back home.

"I was hoping you'd like it!" she grinned. "The writing isn't that complex, but the story is really engaging, so it's great motivation to practice." She pulled her chair closer to him, and the two of them chipped through the first chapter together. 

*SMASH* The sound of a window breaking echoed in the hall. 

"Huh-" Y/n muttered, voice quavering. "Did-did Ram break something?"

"Ram… isn't here right now…" Subaru whispered.

"What?"

"She and Rem went to the village today." A cold sweat broke on his face.

"Do you think it's a robber?" she said, as quiet as a mouse. "I-I don't have many combat skills…"

The two of them pause, staying as quiet as possible. The footsteps came closer.

The footsteps stop in front of the closed door.

Subaru and Y/n hold their breath. Silence hangs heavy in the air.

*CRACK* The door is kicked off its hinges.

In the doorway stood an unfamiliar male demihuman wearing a mask. He locked eyes with Y/n and reached toward a belt of knives at his waist. Before he could get any of them, Y/n jumped from her seat and kneed him between the legs, briefly incapacitating him. She grabbed Subaru by the hand and pulled him out of the room.

"I thought you didn't have combat skills!"

"I said I didn't have _many_ combat skills." she laughed. 

"Wait-" he interjected. "Go through that door!" 

Y/n looked behind to read Subaru's expression. She gave him a nod of trust and opened the door with her free hand. 

"Ah, Y/n. Here for another book, I suppose." Beatrice droned. "Oh, and you." The young girl was sitting on her chair, reading a book with a black cover. She seemed either unaware or unphased by what was going on.

"Beako! You need to help us, there's someone with knives chasing after us!" Subaru begged.

"I don't need to do anything." she replied without looking up from her book.

"Please…" Y/n chimed in. "We just need to be able to escape, is there a way you can help us with at least that?" Beatrice looked up from her book a little and sighed. She lifted her hand, and the library began to shake. 

"There. When you leave the library, you'll be close to the exit, I suppose."

"Beako, you're amazing!" Subaru shouted. Y/n began to put her hand on the door but turned her head to Subaru.

"You know… I really liked spending time with you." her expression softened. "When we get out of this, we should hang out again. Just the two of us." 

"Yeah…" he smiled. "Wait-" he thought. "Is that a flag?" With that promise, she pushed open the door. 

They could see the front doors from the hallway they walked into.

"We're almost there!" he breathed. The two of them started sprinting to the exit. Subaru began to outpace Y/n.

"SUBARU!"

With a shove from Y/n, Subaru tumbled forward. To his horror, he watched Y/n's body get riddled with knives. 

"Y/N!" he caught her in his arms. Her blood stained the sleeves of his jacket. She takes a shaky breath.

"Su-Subaru… I'm glad… I could save you…"

"No…" he sobbed.

"Get… out… of.... here…" she whispered. Another knife was flung their way and lodged into her head. Y/n collapsed in his arms. He clutched her tightly in a tragic embrace.

"Why…" he choked. "You barely knew me. So why…" 

The demihuman walked up to the horrifying scene. He chuckled and raised his knife.

"WHY!" Subaru screamed at Y/n's killer.

The demihuman slit his throat without a word.


	3. A Sense of Relief

It's been a week since you and Subaru defeated the assassin who was after you. You've been kind of shaken up, but he's been checking in on you every day to make sure you're alright. He even left you a vase of flowers last visit. You fondly stroke one of the petals, unaware of the soft smile on your face.

*Knock knock knock* You go to open the door. Subaru is politely waiting in the doorway. He's dressed in some foreign garb that you haven't seen before, instead of his butler uniform.

"Goooood morning!" he says in a singsong tone.

"Wow, you're chipper today!" you chime in.

"Of course." he grins ear to ear. "Who wouldn't be happy to hang out with you?"

"You have something planned?"

"Would you do me the honor of spending the day with me in town?"

"At the village?" You pause.

"I forgot you go there a lot, right? Because of work…"

"No, it's not that! I just already had a location in mind." you trail the end of your sentence off a bit.

"Well," he gave a butler-y bow and a wink. "Would you show me the way, fine lady?"

You lead Subaru through the forest to a field of wildflowers as far as the eye can see. The sky is a perfect blue with only a couple of fluffy light clouds. You glance over to gauge Subaru's reaction.

To your surprise, he's quietly crying.

"Su-Subaru? Are you ok?" you stammer. He sniffles before beginning to speak.

"It's just… it's hard to believe that this is happening." he tries to laugh. "I guess I was just really scared that we wouldn't make it today."

_"I didn't realize,"_ you thought. _"That he was going through this much. He checked on me every day when he was suffering on his own? No wonder, he already almost died in those woods."_ You pull him into a hug.

"...Huh?" he gasped.

"I'm sorry you've gone through so much."

"No need to say sorry. It's not your fault." 

"Well then, thank you for saving me." You lean your head against him.

"It wasn't that impressive," he sighs. "I was just returning the favor." 

"What?"

"Nevermind, It's nothing." he looks away. You know it's funny if someone had asked you how to describe Subaru last week, the word 'mysterious' never would have come to your mind. You've come to realize that there are sides to this man you know nothing about. Maybe, someday, you will know… 

You pull out an appa from the picnic basket in your hand and offer it to him with a gentle smile. 

The two of you spread out a blanket on the soft grass and have a picnic. You make small talk together, and take turns making each other laugh. You can see the stress leave Subaru's shoulders the more he's around you, and every smile he makes is genuine.

"Your smile…" you whisper, barely audible.

"What was that?" he asks.

"Ha, it's just, your smile," you say, your face beginning to turn red. "I could look at it all day." It was Subaru's turn to blush.

"Really? Wow, no one's ever said that to me." he scratches his neck.

"Well, it's true! I really like spending time with you…"

"Well...Your laugh makes my day. My heart flutters whenever I hear it." he responds, shyly avoiding eye contact.

"Then how about we consider today… a date?" your heart beats faster in your chest.

"Yeah-yeah!" his eyes sparkle with excitement. 

"Would you want to keep going on dates?"

"I'd love to!" he grins from ear to ear.

As the sun started to set, the two of you gazed at the clouds. It's warm, but with a light breeze to keep the two of you nice and cool. The smell of the flowers is pleasant and adds to the warmth of the moment.

"The world is terrifying," Subaru quietly said. "But meeting someone like you… makes it worth it."

"I'm glad I could meet you too." 

"Well, it's more than that. Since I arrived in Lugnica, there's been only a handful of people who have been kind to me. I was starting to think that I wouldn't be able to find anyone who wouldn't try to kill me at first." he gives a hollow-sounding chuckle. "So… thank you."

"Subaru…" 

You start to lean towards him, and he leans in return. You can see the sunset reflected in his shining brown eyes. You part your lips. The two of you share a kiss. It wasn't long, but it was sweet—the sweet kiss of a budding romance.

It was like the world stopped, and everything fell into place. After the kiss, the two of you stared into each other's eyes, a light blush on your cheeks. He smiles, and you smile back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my very first fanfiction, actually.


End file.
